USA > Colorado > Colorado pioneers in picture and story > Part 15
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
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"counters" which had dropped on the floor during the progress of the game being swept away next morning as a matter of course.
In the spring of 1872 it was decided to make another change in the firm. A promising young man, Mr. W. G. Fisher, had been admitted into the business some time previously, and he formed the company of the reorgan- ized firm. Mr. Daniels and Mr. Eckhart finally decided that they could not agree on some vital points connected
MR. W .G . FISHER
MRS W.G . FISHER
with the business and this disagreement led to Mr. Eck- hart's complete retirement from the firm.
In October, 1875. the new firm. Daniels & Fisher. bought the corner of Sixteenth and Lawrence streets, and there they laid the foundation of the present store. Peo- ple then said. "You may be able to build away out there. on the very borders of the city, but you won't be able to carry the trade with you."
The growth of the Lawrence street business was phe-
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nomenal, which was in a large measure due to W. G. Fisher, junior partner, who was a man of business ability. wide sympathies and practical philanthropy.
On Christmas day, 1891, the store suffered a heavy loss through the death of its senior partner, Mr. W. B. Daniels. A most remarkable man, Mr. Daniels was often spoken of in financial circles as "the A. T. Stewart of the West." Not only had Mr. Daniels unerring instinct in regard to merchandise, but his powers as an organizer and financier were altogether exceptional. It is owing to his liberal and progressive policy that the Daniels & Fisher Stores Company stands where it does today, in the front rank of America's department stores.
Colonel L. C. Ellsworth was then appointed adminis- tator of the Daniels estate, and with Mr. W. G. Fisher. surviving partner. carried on the business.
Mr. Fisher's death in 1897 was a loss not only to the store but to the entire community.
He came to Denver in 1870 and was identified with the firm of Daniels & Fisher for more than a quarter of a century. No man in the great establishment was better known to customers or clerks than Mr. Fisher himself. He was as easily approached by the small customer as the large one. His simplicity of character flowed out into great kindness : every public movement received from him cordial and generous support ; every charity based its first foundation on his generous purse.
The unwavering principles of honor and right were behind all his transactions. He worked his way from the smallest beginning until he stood. modest and unassum- ing. a leading figure in the business interests of Colorado.
In social life he drew many friends to him and his generous nature made him a true companion.
When the news came of his sudden death in New York. where he had gone on business. the whole city mourned.
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His widow, generous and open-hearted, still lives in her elegant home on Logan street, admired and re- spected by the whole community. Her fine intellect has been broadened by extensive reading and travel. She is at all times courteous and kind to her associates and those with whom she comes in contact ; conscientious in the dis- charge of her duties as a friend and as a citizen, and ever ready to aid, with her influence and means, whatever she considers a benefit to the city of Denver. Her large ball- room is often thrown open for public-spirited and chari- table purposes. She is a member of the west-central com- mittee of the national board of the Young Woman's Chris- tian Association.
At Mr. Fisher's death the business management passed into the hands of Mr. W. C. Daniels, son of the late senior partner, who from the very first displayed re- markable business instincts. Under his able direction, the store assumed many new features, not only new to Den- ver, but new to the entire department store system.
In July, 1897, Mr. Daniels bought Mrs. Fisher's interest in the business, becoming practically the sole owner, and May 1, 1900. the Daniels & Fisher Stores Com- pany was incorporated.
Mr. W. C. Daniels resides abroad. and Mr. Charles MacAllister Willcox is general manager of the business.
EQUAL SUFFRAGE
At a session of the Territorial Legislature in 1869, ex-Governor John Evans and D. M. Richards of Denver endeavored to secure consideration of a measure introduc- ing the question of woman suffrage in Colorado, but they were not successful. In 1870, Territorial Governor Ed- ward McCook recommended an extension of the franchise to women. This was rejected. It was not brought up again until 1876. In that year a convention anticipating
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the admission of Colorado as a State was held in Denver, January 10, which resulted in revival of interest in the women's movement.
A committee from this convention appeared before the constitutional committee, which was held in Denver in the winter of 1875 and 1876, and asked recognition of equal suffrage in the constitution to be framed for the new State. The proposed amendment for equal suffrage was lost by a vote of twenty-four to eight, but the following section of the report of the committee in charge of the matter was inserted by Judge H. P. H. Bromwell, and adopted: "Section 2, Article 7. The Gen- eral Assembly may, at any time, extend by law, the right of suffrage to persons not hereinafter enumerated, but no such law shall take effect or be in force until the same shall have been submitted to a vote of the people at a gen- eral election and approved by a majority of the votes cast for or against such law."
Following the adoption of this section, the conven- tion adopted a resolution instructing the First General Assembly of the State of Colorado (1877) to provide a law whereby the question of woman's suffrage should be submitted to a vote of the electors. Accordingly, an act was passed at the next session of the Legislature submit- ting the question to a vote of the people. A campaign led by the Woman's Suffrage Association was made in that year, but the proposition was defeated at the general election October 1, 1878. by a vote of ten thousand for and twenty thousand against.
In 1891 another effort was made to have the word "male" expunged from the constitution, so that woman's suffrage would have a constitutional right. Under act of the Legislature of 1893, the question was again sub- mitted to a vote of the people at the general election of that year, and at this time the victory was won for woman's suffrage. The vote was as follows: For, 35,689;
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Helen Ring Robinson
against, 29,461, showing a majority of 6,347 for equal suffrage.
As members of the Legislature and as officers in positions of public trust, the women have been valuable acquisitions to the body politic. Mrs. Helen Ring Robinson, a woman of fine ability, was the first Colorado State Senator.
WOMEN'S CLUBS
In connection with equal suffrage, it seems appropriate to speak of women's clubs. The great de- velopment of the club movement in Denver and the State has been since 1880.
The Denver Fortnightly was organized April 13. 1881. The object of the club is. "The union of congenial friends for study and discussion." It has a membership of thirty, and while it has no philanthropic committee. many of its members are actively identified with chari- table and benevolent work in other organizations. The Fortnightly was instrumental in forming the Woman's club of Denver and the State Federation. Its motto is. "To the truth add other truth." Its flower, the Marechal Niel rose.
The Monday club was founded in 1881, almost simul- taneously with the Fortnightly club. It was organized "to bring together women interested in intellectual cul- ture."
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Among the pioneer organizations is Der Deutsche Damen club. It was formed in 1884 for the study of Ger- man literature, history and music and also for social pur- poses.
The Round Table was organized in 1888 for the pur- pose of studying history and literature. The member- ship is limited to thirty. The Rocky Mountain columbine is the club flower, and the club motto is, "Step by step we gain the heights." Mrs. Alice Polk Hill founded the Round Table and has been its president for twenty-five vears.
The Tuesday Musical club was organized in 1892 for musical advancement and for the study of the literature of music. Candidates for membership are required to pass a rigid examination in musical theory and practice.
The original Clio club was organized in 1892. In 1895 was formed The Monday Evening Clio for both men and women. In the same year a Junior Clio was organ- ized, and in 1896 the Young Ladies' Clio was formed for historical and literary study.
The Sevigne club was organized in the month of December, 1892, for the purpose of studying and speak- ing the French language. No English word is spoken at its meetings.
The first meeting to consider the organization of the Woman's Club of Denver was held at the home of Mrs. Charles Denison in the spring of 1894. and soon after a meeting was held in the basement of the Unity church. when an organization was formed with about two hun- dred members. It is impossible in my limited space to tell of the methods and the influence of the Woman's club. It has prompted the organization of many small but help- ful literary associations, and the result is that the women of Denver have been lifted to a broad. intellectual view of life.
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Colorado Pioneers in Picture and Story
Mrs. Sarah Platt Decker
Mrs. J. D. Whitmore
Mrs. Luther M. Goddard
Mrs. Chas. H. Jacobson
Mrs. Dewey C. Bailey
Mrs. E. P. Costigan
PRESIDENTS OF THE WOMAN'S CLUB IN ORDER OF SUCCESSION
Miss Minnie J. Reynolds organized the Woman's Press club in 1898. She was its first president. The ob- ject of the club is, "To advance and encourage women in literary work, to cultivate acquaintance and friendship among women of literary tastes, to secure the benefits arising from organized effort, and to drive dull care away."
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There are many philanthropic and patriotic associa- tions, but in a book with the limitations of this one I can mention only the clubs that were pioneers in the club movement.
J. C. Smiley says: "The statistics of 'the club move- ment' reveal the interesting facts that in number of women's organizations and in aggregate membership therein, Colorado, in proportion to population, surpasses every other State in the Union; and that Denver in pro- portion to population, not only leads in Colorado, but is in advance of every other city in the Union."
THE COLORADO FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS
The Colorado Federation of Women's Clubs was or- ganized in Denver on April 5, 1895, with a membership of thirty-five clubs. The first annual meeting was held in Colorado Springs October 25, 1895.
For the first few years the programs consisted of papers and discussions suggested by the different clubs. but in 1903 the reports of the standing committees were made a part of the regular program.
The Federation has grown from thirty-five clubs to one hundred and fifty clubs and has been a vital force in the advancement of the State along legislative, educa- tional and humanitarian lines. The work is divided among twenty-two committees, some of the most impor- tant being : The traveling library committee, which estab- lished the traveling libraries, that have now become a State institution, and have been of incalculable value to remote and isolated districts.
The art committee, which collected and arranged a traveling art gallery to bring the masterpieces of the world within the reach of all who are interested in art.
The scholarship committee, which has helped one
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hundred and seventy-eight girls to complete their edu- cation and become self-supporting.
The education committee, which has been of great as- sistance in bettering school conditions, especially those relating to rural schools.
Mrs. E. M. Ashley
The legislative com- mittee, which has taken an active part in securing the passage of laws for the help and protection of women and children.
The conservation com- mittee, which has been a factor in the preservation of the natural resources of Colorado and the protec- tion of its birds and plants.
The bureau of infor- mation, which is of special service to club women in the arrangement of pro- grams and the prepara- tion of club papers.
The industrial, State institutions, health, household economics, civics and civil service committees are all of very great value, along their various lines, to the entire State.
The greatest value of the Federation, however, has been that it has shown women the opportunities that were waiting for them on every hand and given them the power of achievement that comes only from the organ- ized efforts of a large number of enthusiastic women working together for a definite purpose.
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The presidents of the Federation have been : Mrs. E. M. Ashley, Denver: Mrs. M. D. Thatcher, Pueblo : Mrs. J. H. Baker, Boulder; Mrs. T. M Harding, Canon City ; Mrs. Mary C. C. Bradford, Denver; Mrs. Isabella Churchill. Greeley: Mrs. J. D. Whitmore, Denver; Mrs. H. L. Hollister, Pueblo; Mrs A. H. McLain. Canon City : Mrs. P. J. McHugh. Fort Collins: Mrs. W. R. Garretson. Denver.
Mrs. E. M. Ashley, the first president of the Colo- rado Federation of Women's Clubs, came to Denver in 1861, and since that time she has participated in all measures designed for the advancement of women.
She was an active worker in the campaign for equal suffrage in 1893, and was vice-president of the board of lady managers of the World's Columbian Exposition. She is a woman of fine education, great kindness of heart and an easy grace of manner.
THE TERRITORIAL GOVERNORS
William Gilpin, the first territorial governor. was appointed by President Lincoln July 8, 1861. and was re- moved from office April, 1862. John Evans was appointed by President Lincoln April 19, 1862.
I have told of the fire, flood, Civil War and Indian outbreak during his administration. The measures taken by him in the trying period of his administration were wise, patriotic, and above all, successfully carried out. He filled the executive chair to his honor and credit for over three years and resigned the office in 1865.
The accompanying picture shows. in the order of their services, the territorial governors appointed after Governor Evans.
John L. Routt was the eighth and last territorial governor. He was appointed by President Grant in 1875.
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Colorado Pioneers in Picture and Story
٨
L.
ALEXANDER CUMMINGS October, 1865, to May, 1867
A. C. HUNT May. 1867, to June, 1869
EDWARD M. MCCOOK June, 1869. to April, 1873 July. 1874, to March, 1875
His solid busi- ness sense and honest effort to do the right thing enabled him to adminis- ter the public JOHN L. ROUTT SAMOI.L. H .B.RT April 18733, to July, 1871 (First State Governori March 1-5 t , November, 1-76 -. November 17h to January. 1-79 Jinuare 1-91 'o January , 1:533 trusts accepta- bly to the peo- ple. Statehood was consummated during his term of office. and he was elected the first governor of the State upon its admission into the Union.
He was a man of honesty and great virtues.
A story will illustrate Governor Routt's fine sense of humor :
A party of friends were in his office one day, telling of their skill as fishermen. The governor was busy at his desk. Suddenly he looked up from his work and said: "You fellows with your little ten-pound trout and twenty- pound catfish will have to take a back seat. for I caught a pickerel that weighs one hundred and sixty-five pounds."
His wife was Miss Eliza Pickerell, weighing one
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hundred and sixty-five pounds, a member of a prominent Indiana family of that name.
CONGRESSMEN
The territorial representatives in Congress are merely the agents of their constituents and have no vote in legis- lation. During its territorial period Colorado had five representatives in Congress. All of them were elected twice: Hiram P. Bennet, elected in 1861, re-elected in 1862: Allan A. Bradford, elected 1864; George M. Chil- cott. 1864. re-elected 1866; Allan A. Bradford, re-elected 1868; Jerome B. Chaffee, 1870, re-elected 1872: Thomas M. Patterson. elected 1874. The second election of T. M. Patterson was for the regular term as a member of Con- gress after the State was admitted.
MAYORS
The first mayor of Denver was J. C. Moore; the sec- ond. Amos Steck, elected April 1. 1863. H. J. Bredlinger was next and served from April 1. 1865, for one year; George T. Clark came next, and then Milton M. De Lano served two years. Edward Chase was in the council during De Lano's first term, re- signed, and was elected several times thereafter. It was the uni- versal opinion that no straighter or more honest man ever served the city than was this same Ed- ward Chase.
William M. Clayton was mayor from April 1, 1868, to George T. Clark April, 1869. He believed in econ- omy. That was his watchword. He often shouldered a
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shovel and opened clogged-up ditches to save the city money.
He was so careful of the city's funds that he saved enough during his administration to pay the municipal expenses for the following year without a tax levy being necessary. But he was not mean or stingy. He conducted a general store, and when the Indian raids and fighting caused hard times he gave credit to everybody until times got good again.
PART VI THE PIONEER STATE BUILDERS
CHAPTER XVI
CHANGES IN MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
FREIGHTERS
The splendid State of Colorado is the gift of the pioneers to civilization. Toilers they were in the days of 1858-59 and '60. Men gifted with both brain and brawn. who fought their way through countless obstacles, and while they were carving a State out of the wilderness Denver was the scene of magnificent human progress.
I will now trace the development of pioneer enter- prises to the time that Colorado became a State, and to show that the pioneer spirit of hope and courage is not dead in Colorado. I will draw a line from 1876 to the present and end each story with a brief mention of the men and women of today who are pushing forward the work of State building. In the onward march of civili- zation, the enterprises of the hour require the work of the pioneer. The problems are different from those in 1858, and in the present phases of government, economic reform and social betterment, the leaders in State build- ing are not less intrepid than those who led the way in 1859.
There was not a railroad west of the Missouri river in 1859. Every pound of freight. every emigrant and every letter had to be carried by wagon or on horseback in the face of hardships untold and at the risk of life. Many were engaged in freighting. but the first organized
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Colorado Pioneers in Picture and Story
system of wagon trains to cross the plains to Denver was that of the trading and shipping firm of Russell, Majors & Waddell.
In the spring of 1859, when the rush for Pike's Peak commenced, this firm organized the Pike's Peak Express Company. They bought the Hockaday line of coaches, running from the Missouri river to Salt Lake, and turned the line, so that the main road branched off at Kearney and headed for Denver.
So extensive was the business of this firm that as early as 1859, Russell, Majors & Waddell had upon the
AN EMIGRANT TRAIN
LTS
POST OFFICE
ALEXANDER MAJORS
BEN HOLLADAY
STAGE COACH OFFICE
JUDGE STECK
plains 5,000 wagons, 20,000 oxen and 10,000 mules and horses. They were the greatest inland freighters in the world.
At one time their influence was greater in the affairs of the government than are the railroads of today.
The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company succeeded the Leavenworth and Pike's Peak Company, and their arrival and departure in Den- ver were events of importance. With the arrival of the "mail-coaches" there was a great rush to the "postoffice" -a pretentious frame building erected by Major R. R.
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The Pioneer State Builders
Bradford at Sixteenth and Holladay. Amos Steck was behind the "pigeon hole." There was always a string of men a block or two long waiting to get mail. Letters cost twenty-five cents each. Gold dust was the principal circulating medium at this time. Every person carried a buckskin bag in his pocket and every merchant was obliged to provide himself with Troy scales to weigh the "currency of the realm." The weighing of the gold in payment for letters consumed time in delivering the mail. Young Steck had a remarkable memory for faces and names, and by calling out far down the hitching, halting line, would relieve them of tedious waiting. Let- ters often failed to reach those for whom they were in- tended, from the fact that men frequently dropped their real names and took common ones, like Sam Smith or Jack Jones.
A story is told of one Noah Davis, who was mining in Park county in 1860, under the name of Jack Jones. A friend from Gregory Gulch informed him that four letters were waiting for him at the postoffice. Jack Jones. as he was called, had not heard from his wife for a long time, so he tramped ninety-four miles over the mountains. only to find that another Jack Jones had taken the let- ters from the postoffice.
The first mail delivered by the government in Den- ver arrived August 10, 1860, and the first postmaster ap- pointed at that time was Park McClure. Previous to that. letters were delivered by the express company.
In 1862. Ben Holladay became the owner of this line of coaches. He was the great transportation king of the plains. No other one man owned and managed a transportation system at once so vast and so difficult.
The Indian depredations of 1864-66 almost broke up his stage line. The red men burned the stations. stole the stock and killed the white men. The financial loss
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was about a half million. In 1866 Holladay sold the Overland stages to Wells Fargo & Company. This com- pany continued the romantic enterprises until the coming of the railroads.
The first transfer company was started by the Ben Holladay stage line. Jack Hughes succeeded Holladay, Wall & Witter following him: then William H. Pierce & Company, known as "Tip" Pierce. His successor was Mr. Simonton. The Denver Transfer Company succeeded Simonton : Marrs & Middleton succeeded the Denver Transfer Company. Then came Austin & Reynolds: Kuykendall. Cobb & Martinez were their successors. Then followed Kuykendall. Cobb & Kuvkendall. The Denver Omnibus and Carriage Company was next, which was organized by John M. Kuykendall. Later he or- ganized the Denver Omni- bus and Cab Company. He is president and gen- eral manager of both these companies.
In spite of the ever- increasing responsibility of his personal business. Mr. Kuvkendall gives a great deal of time to pub- lic-spirited works for the upbuilding of Denver.
Mr. Kuvkendall said : "I have lived in Denver forty-five years. and be- lieve it has a great future. I am very much attached to Denver. There is no other place on the globe
John M. Kuykendall
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The Pioneer State Builders
that would feel quite like home to me, and I hope I may be able to spend the rest of my days in this city."
Mr. Kuykendall has an affable southern manner; he is genial in disposition, generous of heart and has a level business head.
He married Miss Thomason of Cheyenne, the daugh- ter of Mr. Zachariah Thomason, a wealthy cattleman of Colorado and Wyoming. She is noted for a sweet benevo- lence of character and rare social graces. The Kuyken- dall home on Seventh avenue is one of the most elegant in Denver.
THE PONY EXPRESS
The distance, the perilous and time consuming means of communication between the new country and the old States, caused leading men to constantly calculate ways and means for the bettering of conditions. The conflict between the North and the South increased the clamor for faster mail service. The people were eager to hear the news and the war talk added to the demand for swifter information.
In the winter of 1859-60 Senator Gwinn of Cali- fornia, several money magnates of New York and Alex- ander Majors of Russell, Majors and Waddell, the trans- portation kings on the plains west of the Missouri river. met in Washington, D. C.
The result of that meeting was the inception of one of the most daring and romantic business ventures the world has ever known; the pony express, by which the time of transmitting news across the continent was re- duced from twenty-one to ten days.
The telegraph then extended only to St. Joseph. and. between that point and San Francisco, there was nothing to break the monotony of mountain and plain but two settlements. the Mormons in Utah and the Pike's Peak
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settlement. The project was deemed absurd and abso- lutely impossible.
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